As model Arizonans leave state, crime drops

When Alan Colmes interviewed me on his radio show in 2006, he was scandalized by my statement that there is a connection between illegal immigration and crime. He said that illegal aliens are no more likely to commit crime than anyone else, and that it is racist to say otherwise.

Developments in Phoenix, Arizona rather dramatically contradict Colmes’s rosy picture of illegal aliens. According to the Phoenix Business Journal:

Drop in crime coincides with exodus of illegal immigrants

A marked drop in Phoenix-area crime coincides with the recession and a drop in the number of illegal immigrants in Arizona.

Phoenix has seen a 25 percent decline in the number of crimes during the first five months of 2009 compared to the same time period in 2007 when the economy began to slow. Violent crime in Phoenix is down 12 percent, according crime statistics from the Phoenix Police Department.

The Mesa Police Department reports a 19 percent decrease in total crimes for the first half of 2009 versus the first half of 2007, including a 10 percent drop in violent crime. Tempe has seen a 25 percent total drop.

At the same time, the state’s illegal immigrant population [correction: illegal ALIEN population] has decreased by as much as one-third thanks to the down U.S. economy, tougher enforcement polices by the federal government and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the state’s employer sanctions law which goes after businesses who hire undocumented workers, said Steven Camarota, director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

CIS estimates Arizona’s illegal immigrant population has gone from 579,000 in 2007 to 388,000 this year—191,000-person drop.

Camarota said enforcement was the initial reason for the drop in illegal immigration in Arizona, but now it’s more due to the lack of jobs for migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico.

Arizona has lost 239,500—9 percent of its work force—since the recession began in late 2007, according the Economic Policy Institute. Those job losses have been heavy in industries such as construction, restaurants and services.

CIS estimates the U.S. illegal immigrant population has dropped from 12.5 million in 2007 to 10.8 million now.

[end of article]

In this connection, let us remember that in December 2007 self-described immigration restriction hard-liner Rod Dreher wrote and personally approved an editorial essay for the Dallas Morning News arguing that illegal aliens should be designated as “The Texan of the Year.” By Dreher’s logic, illegal aliens in Arizona should be considered “The Arizonan of the Year.” How then would Dreher account for the fact that as these model Arizonans have departed from the state by the tens of thousands, crime has plummeted?

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Philip M. writes from England:

“How then would Dreher account for the fact that as these model Arizonans have departed from the state by the tens of thousands, crime has plummeted? ”

Without all the Mexicans, there is less opportunity for whites to commit Hate Crimes.

Next question ;)

August 3

Stephen T. writes:

This puts me in mind of California legislator Joe Baca’s famous remark. When asked if giving Mexican nationals California driving licenses wouldn’t open the door to allowing them to vote unlawfully in U.S. elections, he said he saw no evidence that illegal aliens would do anything illegal.

The average illegal from Mexico has violated approximately 12 federal, state, and local laws beginning with his illegal entry and continuing into all manner of counterfeit, fraud, identity theft, necessary to remain here. (The totality of these would send a convicted American to jail for several years.) This tends to select from among the Mexican population those who have less inhibitions about law-breaking to begin with, and a certain facility for it, too.

An illegal alien who has broken 12 laws without consequence has a higher comfort level with committing violation number 13—whatever that might be—than a legal citizen who’s never gotten more than a parking ticket, and paid that fine promptly. (That simple statement during voir dire got me kicked off a jury once in downtown Los Angeles.)

Posted by Lawrence Auster at August 02, 2009 09:54 PM | Send